Refrigerating unit



May 30, 1939. F. R. wEsT' 2,160,045

IGERAT I 2Q m, wz-@Sa ATTORNEYS May 30, 1939. F. R.lwEsT 2,160,045

REFRIGERATING UNIT l Filed May 21, 1955 2 sheets-sheet 2 i, mmm 22 .mmv nu".

INVENTOR @6W/r E Wfs ATTORNEYS Patented May 30, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a refrigerating unit, and has to do particularly with a refrigerator cabinet having a storage compartment formed separately from the main food compartment.

Heretofore attempts have been made to conserve the relatively cold atmosphere produced in the food chamber by so locating the sharp freezing unit as to be independently accessible from the food compartment, permitting sharp frozen foods to be removed without disturbing, or greatly disturbing, the atmosphere in the food compartment. It is one of the objects of the present invention to conserve the cold atmosphere in the large food compartment by providing a novel, inexpensive auxiliary compartment, cooled by conduction from the main compartment and adapted to receive articles of food most commonly used. I

More specifically, the present invention has to do with the adding of an auxiliary compartment to a' standard refrigerator cabinet by merely dropping the insulation at the bottom of the cabinet a few inches so as to provide a compartment for receiving a drawer or the like; by dropping the insulation the bottom wall of the refrigerator liner becomes the top wall of the auxiliary compartment and the cooling of the auxiliary compartment is by conduction through the bottom wall of the main food compartment. The main features of my auxiliary compartment are, that it is formed with very little additional expense and without changing the design of the standard refrigerator cabinet, it is sealed from the main compartment, cooling is by conduction from the main compartment, and the most commonly used foods may be properly cooled and removed and replaced without disturbing the main food compartment.

Other features have to dol with details of design and construction as will be more clearly brought out in the specification and claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a refrigerator cabinet fabricated in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view'taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, illustrating the preferred relationship of the construction of the main food compartment and auxiliary compartment.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing the location of the auxiliary compartment within a continuation of the insulation walls of the cabinet.

Fig. 4 is a modified form of cabinet wherein a second auxiliary compartment is formed as a vertical compartment alongside the main compartment.

Fig. 5 is a section along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 illustrating one arrangement of shelf and draw- (Cl. Bib-89) er structure for this vertical auxiliary compartment.

Fig. 6 is ahorizontal sectional view taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 4 illustrating particularly the drawer structure and wall structureof the auxiliary compartment.

Fig. '7 illustrates a further modified form of cabinet structure wherein the auxiliary compartment is sealed from the main compartment but is cooled by air circulating around the auxiliary compartment as well as by conduction around the bottom of the main compartment.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view on line B-8`of Fig. '7 showing the circulating ports between the main compartment and the outside walls of the auxiliary compartment.

Fig; 9 is a. sectional plan view taken on line 9--9 of Fig. 8.

In forming my separate storage compartment sealed from but cooled by the main food compartment, I preferably make use of a standard refrigerator cabinet and in Fig. 1 I have shown what might be termed a composite View of several standard makes of refrigerator c-abinets, the purpose being to show that my auxiliary storage compartment is adapted to many different types of cabinet structure. In Figs. 1 and 2 the cabi-A net is generally designated as at 2, the main food compartment 3 and a door therefor as at 4. Circulation of the air within the food compartment 3 to'produce cooling thereof is by means of any standard type of cooling unit 5.

Most refrigerator cabinets have a metal porcelain liner 6 with the usual side walls 'including a bottom wall 1; it is the bottom wall 1 which is the important part of the present invention and in its preferred form this bottom Wall or sealing shelf is continued and turned over as at 8 to form a breaker strip for the door 4 as well as the closure member 9, as will be presently described. One of the very important things about any refrigerator cabinet is the insulation, and in carrying out the present invention, instead of redesigning and fabricating an expensive type of cabinet to form the extra auxiliary chamber, I merely drop the insulation I0 a few inches below' the bottom wall 'l of the food compartment so that the bottom lining of insulation is positioned as at Il instead of up against the bottom of the wall 1.

In the average refrigerator cabinet the Wall 'l is positioned approximately where it is shown. in Fig. 2 and the space between this wall and the bottom of the cabinet is usually waste space. Thus in making up my refrigerator cabinet, I merely drop the insulation l0 down the number of inches required, say, from three and one-half to seven inches, and position therein a lining I2, preferably open at the top as at I3. The front and side walls of this lining I2 are extended as i may be generally designated I8.

at I4 to provide a breaker strip around the remaining three sides which form the opening for the auxiliary compartment.:

The front panel I5 of the refrigerator cabinet is apertured corresponding tothe breaker strip formed by the portion 8 and the side and bottom walls I4 and is designed to receive a drawer member I6, the front end of which is attached to and closed by the closure member 9. The auxiliary compartment for receiving the drawer I6 may be generally designated I1. Cooling of the compartment I1 is by means of conduction through the bottom wall 1. In other words, cooling of thisvbottom wall 1 is by convection, through circulation of air currents over the cooling unit 5, and the cooling of the atmosphere. within the compartment I1 is by conduction and convection v through contact with the bottom wall 1 oi' the main food compartment.

It will' thus be seen that the compartment I1 may be added to the standard type of refrigerator cabinet with very little added expense. The contents thereof are completely sealed from the food compartment 3 and thus sealed from any odors therein. Commonly used foods such as butter, eggs, cheese and the like, may be stored in this lower compartment and kept at the proper temperature without any contamination with any odors in the food compartment proper. Inasmuch as the lower part of the food compartment 3 is cooler than the top part, it will be seen that the compartment I1 will be maintained at a slightly lower temperature than the top of the food compartment 3 but at a higher' temperature than the bottom part. In other words, as a common example, the bottom part of the food compartment 3 would be maintained at around 42, the top part of the compartment at 48, and the auxiliary compartment I1 at 47 or slightly under.

auxiliary compartment will also be ideal for holding bottled goods not only because of the properly maintained temperature but because it is easier to store bottles therein by laying them on their sideji' thus making it possible to diminish the distance between the shelves in the main food compartment and store more food.

In the modication illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, I have added a vertical compartment which This compartment may be constructed similarly to the compartment I1 but if the standard size cabinet is used it will require a slight decrease in the size of the storage cabinet of the main compartment. This compartment may be formed by having a wall 6 of the main food compartment serve as the conducting means for cooling the air in the compartment I8. A metal sleeve I9 may be fitted in this compartment to receive and guide a drawer member 20. This vertical drawer 20 may be provided with suitable racks 2| for positioning and holding various articles of food. The compartment I8 will likewise be sealed from the main compartment 3.

, Where desired to maintain the auxiliary compartment at a temperature considerably below that maintained in the auxiliary compartments shown in Figs- 2 and 5, I provide a second liner |2a spaced inwardly at the back, sides and bottom from the liner I2 and preferably sealed to the bottom wall 1 of the main compartment 3. Such a construction provides a circulating space 23 around the back, side and bottom walls of the auxiliary compartment. In other words, the auxiliary compartment I1, as shown ln Figs. '1 to 9,

together with the drawer I8 is substantially the l same as that shown in Figs. 2 and 5 except slightly smaller so as to provide for the circulating space 23. Apertures 24 are provided at the longitudinal bottom corners in the liner 6 and struck out portions 25 will cover these apertures to prevent food from falling thereinto. It will be seen vthat with this arrangement that cooled air from the main compartment 3 will circulate around and through the walls 23 to cool the auxiliary compartment I1 in addition to the cooling effect obtained by conduction through the bottom wall 1 of the main compartment.

What I claim is:

1. A domestic refrigerating unit having a cabinet with conventional insulated walls, a main food compartment defined by a liner, a cooling unit positioned to cause circulation of air within the main compartment, a closure for said main compartment, a relatively at auxiliary compartment for small commonly used foods positioned directly adjacent said main compartment and comprising a double walled liner having air spaces between the walls, the top of which is formed by the bottom of said main liner, said auxiliary compart-v ment being sealed from said main compartment, said main liner having openings leading to said air spaces whereby cooling of said auxiliary compartment is by conduction through a portion of the bottom of said main liner and by circulation of air from the main compartment through said openings around said auxiliary compartment.

2. A domestic refrigerating unit having a cabinet with conventional insulated walls, a main food compartment defined by a liner, a cooling unit positioned to cause circulation oi air within the Vmain compartment@ closure for said main com- ,`.partment, a sealed, relatively ilat,l double-walled auxiliary. compartment Afor small commonly used foodspositioned directly adjacent a wall of said main compartment whereby cooling of said auxiliary compartment is by conduction through a portion of said wall of said lin'er and by circula- 4 tion, between the double walls of said auxiliary compartment, of air from said main compartment, the remaining walls of said auxiliary compartment other than the wall adjacent the main liner being insulated by a continuation of the conventional insulation surrounding the main food compartment.

3. In adomestic refrigerator, a cabinet, a main liner defining the main food compartment, a cooling unit in the main compartment for setting up circulation of refrigerated air therein, a separately accessible auxiliary compartment beneath the main compartment comprising a second liner, and a storage compartment 'formed by a third liner depending from the bottom of said main liner and spaced from said second named liner to permit air ow around said storage compartment, said main compartment liner having openings in its bottom portion communicating with the spaces between said second and third named liners, the inside of said storage compartment being completely sealed from the inside of said main liner and being cooled by conduction through the bottom wall of said main liner and by circulation of air from the main compartment around the storage compartment.

FRANK R.. WEST. 

